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The safari

I researched safaris and safari companies before we left the states so I was armed with some costs (they’re expensive) and a good idea of what I wanted to do and where I wanted to go. My first thought was to go into Arusha and shop the safari companies in town. But as we were at the hostel and the owner, Justin, arranges safaris, I decided to see what he had to offer. There were a number of variables that factored into pricing, the key one for us was being able to get up in the middle of the night for a pit stop and not being some predator’s midnight snack! Traipsing around Arusha with a scant few hours of sleep played into the scenario, as well. After all was settled, we paid a touch more than $280 pp/day which $60 pppd less than any quote I’d gotten previously. An expected RTW budget buster, for sure, but I thought I did well and it turned out to be a winning move.

Arusha was one chaotic, crowded, dirty, dusty crap-hole of a city. (And I say that will all due respect). Justin took us into town and helped us get a nicer place to stay in town as well as negotiating our way through the urban morass to get a SIM card for our phone. We were ready to roll the next day.

The road to Tarangire National Park was packed with detours or “diversions” leading off the main road on to the most pot-holed, jarring roads imaginable. Since it’s the dry season the dust from other cars could bring visibility down to a blinding 5-10 feet at times. And in the Tanzanian’s road engineer/administrators’ infinite wisdom, they added speed bumps just to make sure no one sped on these un-speedable highways. In fact, they even had speed bumps on the newer sections of that stretch of highway. Thank goodness for some of these things as on occasion I’d seen and heard things in/about other countries that made the U.S. look third world. Tanzania took care of that.

A warthog relaxes and cools off

Ngorongoro crater rim

On the first day of the safari (or game drive, as they’re called, I was sitting at a picnic bench in the perimeter of the area eating a food roll-up of some kind when, before I knew what happened and faster than I could blink, a monkey came down from the tree and grabbed it out of my hand. On the third day, at crowded Ngorongoro picnic area, there were Black Kites (a kind of raptor) flying over head and no one got out of their cars to eat. We were told that if they mistook your hand or finger for something to eat, you could get hurt.

Male lion with wildebeest kill

We saw this big guy above on the last day of safari in Ngorongoro conservation area. It was mid-day and he looked very very content. It’s good to be the King!

Jackals ready for an opportunity to cash in on the lion’s efforts.

Our driver/guide, Ibrahim, was excellent. A 15-year veteran guide, he was still interested in showing and describing the wildlife and flora and fauna. He had a field book for detail, too, and he had a couple of funny stories he shared with us along the way.

The shy and elusive Dik Dik; one of the world’s smallest antelope

A lion lazing in the mid-day sun

We counted 11 lions in Ngorongoro.

Happy hippos

Cindy and our most awesome guide/driver, Ibrahim

Ramadan started on the second day of our safari. As a practicing muslim, Ibrahim would wait until beyond sundown to break fast, and then head to the local mosque to pray. Each morning he was with us during Ramadan he showed up feeling refreshed and renewed. It was good to see.

Guinea fowl

Giraffes by Lake Manyara

We saw tons of zebra and wildebeest. They were easily the most abundant and visible game.

Wildebeest and zebras appear to be BFF’s

Zebras on the move

It’s true that Elephants never forget

Ostrich feel very comfortable around us.

Every time I’d see a hyena I would think of the movie “The Lion King” and hear Cheech Marin’s voice playing the hyena.

I gotta have a wildebeest, I gotta have a wildebeest, I gotta have a wildebeest!

“Sometimes I just feel like a piece of meat!”

Zebras red flag the nearby predator

Blue Heron

The areas we visited are south of the Serengeti and part of the East branch of the Rift Valley. Here’s a list of the parks/conservation areas we visited and (a fairly complete) list of what we saw in each area.

We’ve been busy here but finally got caught up on reading all about your adventures. At first Sox was worried about you, covering her ears as I read on. Now she wants to meet those jackals! She had a well visit with Dr. Mead and he said she looked great! She has blended nicely with our family. She sleeps on my daughter’s bed most nights. I had to remind my daughter that she’s temporary. We will miss her. She’s really well behaved except for the holes she has been digging. I think she’s trying to meet up with you in China! It’s fun living vicariously through your travels. All the best, Heather